Columbus the Discoverer

o o « ' <y 9- Cyil0l • *-t^ ^li. A^ ^0^9' .'^^-^ o VJVC-' *^ :-.. -..-'* .•:^^-. - «>bv^ '.T* .0^ V't' '^^'.'^ > V ! '- ''' C- HEROES OF AMERICAN HISTORY COLUMBUS BUST OF COLUMBUS BY BOZZANO COLUMBUS THE DISCOVERER BY FREDERICK A. OBER HEROES OF AMERICAN HISTORY # HARPER 6- BROTHERS PUBLISHERS NEW YORK AND LONDON 1906 \^^^'£::?''<^'£:7'<::^-^'^^^^' £\ W 612. LIBRARY of CONGRESS Two CoDies Received FEB 15 1906 (] Copyrleht Entry CLASS (Ay XXc. No, ^V 7 6 /i^ COPY B. Copyright, 1906, by Harper & Brothers. All rights reserved. Published February, 1906. ^ .^ •^ CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. Sailor and Corsair (1475) .... i II. The Man with a World in His Gift (1475-1488) 15 III. From Palace to Monastery (1488- 1491) 29 IV. How Columbus Became an Admiral (1491) 43 V. The "Gap in the Globe" (1492) . 56 VI. Where is San Salvador? (1492) . 70 VII. Cuba and the Mythical Cipango (1492) 84 VIII. Where the Flag-Ship was Wrecked (1492) 97 IX. The Return Voyage to Spain (1493) . 114 X. A Triumphal Journey (1493) . 12S XL Second Voyage and First Settlement (1493) 142 XII. Expeditions in Search of Gold (1494) 159 XIII. Jamaica Discovered (1494) .... 176 XIV. Subjugation of the Indians (1495- 1496) 189 XV. The Rule of Don Bartholomew (1496-1498) 206 XVI. The Third Voyage of Discovery (1498) 220 V CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XVII. Columbus and His Brothers in Irons (1500) 234 XVIII. The Last and Most Disastrous Voy- age (1502-1504) 247 XIX. Shipwreck and Rescue, Coast of Jamaica (1503-1504) 267 XX. The End of a Great Career . 281 ILLUSTRATIONS / BUST OF COLUMBUS BY BOZZANO . Frontispiece COLUMBUS DEMONSTRATING HIS THEORY OF THE earth's ROTUNDITY . Facing p. 28 " THE LANDING AT GUANAHANI .... 76 , RETURN OF COLUMBUS FROM HIS FIRST " VOYAGE 134 ''^ COLUMBUS NEGOTIATES A PEACE WITH ROLDAN " 228 ^ " THE ADELANTADO SALLIED FORTH . AND SWORE HE WOULD HACK THEM TO " PIECES " 272 " THE DEATH OF COLUMBUS 290.^' LEAD CASKET WHICH CONTAINED BONES OF COLUMBUS *' 294 COLUMBUS COLUMBUS SAILOR AND CORSAIR 1475 CROWNING a headland on the coast of Spain, less than thirty miles distant from the southern boundary-line of Portugal, stands the ancient monastery of La Rabida. It was founded, according to tradition, during the reign of Trajan, Roman emperor, more than eighteen hundred years ago, and for a time was occupied by the Knights Templars, after the expulsion of the Moors from Spain becoming a possession of the Franciscan monks. As its name in Arabic signifies an outpost, they called it " Santa Maria de la Rabida," or the monastery of Saint Mary of the Frontier. It is almost as lonely now as in the time of him whose fortunes we shall shortly follow, for the near- COLUMBUS est settlement is Palos, three miles away, while the same distance separates it from the Atlantic, the roar of whose waves may be heard here in times of storm, as they dash upon the "Arenas Gordas," or wild wastes of sands, that render this coast uninhab- itable. The headland upon which La Rabida is situated is based between two rivers, the Tinto and Domingo Rubio, the confluent waters of which form the Odiel, then flow past a sandy island and mid foaming break- ers to the ocean. Down this channel, float- ing on the bosom of the Tinto from Palos, came the caravels of Columbus, one day in August, 1492, and, taking their departure from La Rabida, sailed out into the ocean, on that voyage which made their crews akin to the immortals. Two thousand years ago this coast was known to the Phoenicians, for those daring sailors of Tyre, who found the passage between the Pillars of Hercules, came here to mine the ores of Tarshish, which they shipped from the port of Huelva, and which can be seen from La Rabida, across an arm of the sea, shining like a silvery snow- drift against the purple of its hills. Huelva was the "copper port" of ancient Tarshish, ; SAILOR AND CORSAIR mention of which is made in the Bible, and the Rio Tinto [pronounced Teen-to, mean- ing colored] is said to derive its name from the beds of copper over which it flows. Particular mention is made of La Rabida, at the outset of our voyagings with Colum- bus, because (strange though it may seem) it is, perhaps, the first spot with which we can positively identify the great discoverer in the early period of his wonderful career. As to the exact date of his birth, the house in which he was born, his adventures during youth and early manhood, his personal appearance even, there is "a great diversity of opinion among historians"; but the mists of obscurity dissolve away when, in the course of his wanderings, Columbus arrives at the hospitable portal of La Rabida. His ex- periences there will be narrated in due course but it should be borne in mind that they were so important, and had such a bearing upon his subsequent discoveries in the " New World"—then to be revealed—that the old monastery has been aptly termed 'the corner-stone of American history." Christopher Columbus first arrived in Spain in the year 1484 or 1485, having come from Portugal with his son Diego. He in- 3 COLUMBUS tended to leave him with his sister-in-law, then residing at Moguer, or at Huelva, which towns form, together with Palos, not far distant from either, a distinguished triad in the history of Spain. He was on his way to the court of Isabella and Ferdinand, then at Cordova, and (though some historians make no mention of this first, conjectural arrival at La Rabida) it is quite possible he came here before going farther into An- dalusia. In the first place, Huelva and Palos were the nearest Spanish ports to Portugal, whence he had come; in the second. La Rabida was the most conspicuous landmark on that part of the coast, the point of arrival and departure for many a mariner, its white towers being visible many miles at sea. He was not, however, a native of Spain, nor was his first visit to that country made until he was well ad- vanced in life ; as all the world should know, and as it seems hardly necessary to remind the reader. Despite the uncertainty attaching to the exact place of his birth—so far as village, street, and house are concerned—there can exist no doubt whatever as to his nationality. He was an Italian, and was born in Genoa, 4 ; SAILOR AND CORSAIR as he himself testifies in his last will and testament, in the following item: "I also enjoin Diego [his son], or any one who may inherit the estate, to have and maintain in the city of Genoa one person of our Hneage to reside there with his wife, and appoint him a sufh- cient revenue to enable him to live decently, as a person closely connected with the family, of which he is to be the root and basis in that city; from which great good may accrue to him, inas- much as I was born there, and came from thence." He was a native of Genoa, most assuredly but as to the date of his birth his biographers hold various opinions, with the majority in favor of that given by Washington Irving, which is "about" the year 1435. Although he may have been of what is called " illus- trious descent," or allied to the nobility, the fact that it was not discovered until after he had become the most famous man in the world, casts a shadow of doubt upon the claim. His natural son, Ferdinand, who wrote a biography of the great "Admiral," does not dwell upon the fact that his father was the son of Dominico Colombo, a humble wool-comber, and his wife Susanna; but he sensibly concludes that he "should derive COLUMBUS less dignity from any nobility of ancestry than from being the son of such a father," As the eldest child of a poor man, himself probably uneducated, Christopher Colum- bus did not obtain the benefits of an educa- tion in the schools to any great extent. He was taught, or taught himself, reading, writ- ing, grammar, and arithmetic, was good at drawing, and had a decided taste for geo- graphical studies. There is a tradition that he at one time attended the university of Pavia, and, though this has been denied by some historians who profess to know, he somehow and somewhere (but probably in the rough school of experience) acquired a knowledge, ample for his times, of geometry, astronomy, geography, and navigation ; while as for Latin, he could both write and speak it fluently. He had two brothers, Bartholomew and Diego, to whom he was strongly attached, and of whom we shall learn something more than their names in the course of this nar- rative. He also had a sister, who married a person in her own station of life, and fell into the abysm of obscurity. Like Napoleon Bonaparte, no sooner had Christopher Co- lumbus risen to a height above the level 6 SAILOR AND CORSAIR of the masses, than he stooped and raised his brothers beside him. They served him faithfully, loyally, and he requited their services to his best ability. Their devotion to each other in after life causes one to regret that we could not know more of their youthful years, and especially of the chief personage of this remarkable trio. One thing is certain : Christopher could not have remained long at the university, even if he entered it, as at the age of fourteen he was serving as a sailor, on board a ship commanded by Captain Colombo, who is said to have been a connection of his family.

Load more